​Intl manhunt underway for ‘British’ extremist in beheading video

UK intelligence services and police are trying to identify a suspected British jihadist who beheaded a US journalist in a video released by the IS. A report suggests he could be the leader of a group of British fighters holding foreign hostages in Syria.

British Prime Minister
David Cameron said it looked "increasingly likely" the
man thought to be involved in the beheading is British, but that
it was "not a time for a knee-jerk reaction." Cameron
also said the government would "redouble" efforts to
stop Britons traveling to Iraq and Syria to fight.

An international manhunt is now underway, with the FBI, MI5 and
Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command scrambling to identify
the executioner in the video.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the militant in the video – who has
an English accent – is from London or the South East and is
called John, according to the Daily Telegraph.

On Tuesday, the extremist group Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL) published a video, titled ‘A Message to America’, of
the moments before and after James Foley was beheaded. The armed
man dressed in black next to Foley said the journalist’s death
was in retaliation for US attacks on IS in Iraq.

The footage has since been verified by the White House.
Freelance journalist
Foley, 40, had been missing since he was kidnapped in Syria in
2012.

A Guardian exclusive states that the British
jihadist is believed to be the leader of a group of British
fighters holding foreign hostages in Syria.

The Guardian reportedly spoke to one of the militant’s former
hostages, who identified him as the “ringleader of three
British jihadists thought to be the main guards of foreign
nationals in Raqqa,” a stronghold of IS rebels in northern
Syria.

Operating closely with two other British born militants, the
Telegraph reports the group has been dubbed ‘The Beatles’ by
fellow jihadists because of their nationality.

According to the Guardian, ‘John’ was the main rebel negotiator
during talks earlier this year to release 11 Islamic State
hostages, who were eventually handed to Turkish officials after
ransom demands were met. An anonymous former hostage, who was
held in Raqqa for a year, told the Guardian that the British
executioner is “intelligent, educated and a devout believer
in radical Islamic teachings.”

Around 500 Britons are believed to have left the UK to join
militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

Islamic State militants demanded a $100-million ransom from the
US for the release of US journalist Foley, the New York Times
reported, citing a representative of Foley’s family and a former
fellow hostage. However, the US refused to pay, according to the
paper.

The White House revealed on Wednesday revealed that a US Special
Operations team tried and failed to free Foley, along with other
hostages, during a secret mission in Syria this summer.

The graphic footage of the beheading of the journalist caused a
worldwide outcry. The Metropolitan Police issued a warning on
Wednesday that "viewing, downloading or disseminating"
the video might constitute an offence under terrorism laws.

Meanwhile, ex-military chiefs issued a warning, saying Britain
and the West must brace themselves for more bloody atrocities
before Islamist jihadists in Iraq are defeated. They urged
Cameron to deploy more RAF warplanes to fight IS militants.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon warned that the West must
be prepared for jihadists taking retribution against other
hostages as IS was hit by airstrikes. Referring to Foley’s
murder, he said, “Being blunt, we sadly must expect more of
this. We are dealing with fanatical, religious people who are
long past the point of normal behavior. They must be
stopped.”

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he did not rule out the
possibility that British soldiers would be sent to Iraq for
training purposes, but said he did not view this as “boots on
the ground,” and insisted they would not be involved in
combat.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said on ITV's Good Morning Britain
anyone involved in fighting with extremist militants should be
prevented from returning to Britain. He said, "I think it's
very simple, we should take away their passports, stop them
coming back into the country."

Meanwhile, on Thursday British Muslim organizations condemned the
“abhorrent” killing of Foley and agreed to work with the
police to “root out” extremism.

“We are horrified at the abhorrent murder of James Foley, a
reporter who initially went to the region to expose the human
rights abuses of the Syrian regime. ISIS has murdered this man
for no reason at all,” a Muslim Council of Britain (MCB)
spokesperson said in a statement.

Saying ISIS does not speak for Islam, MCB urged media
organizations not to give the group “undue exposure”
beyond conventional reporting, as the group “craved the
oxygen of publicity.”